Al Nasr spring surprise with deal for former Al Ittihad coach Benat San Jose

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  • (Twitter/@ALNasrSC).

    Al Nasr sprung a surprise on Saturday night with the hiring of Spanish prodigy Benat San Jose as their new coach.

    San Jose, 39, has inked a one-and-a-half year contract with the Al Maktoum Stadium-outfit. This decision followed the dismissal earlier this month of club great Ivan Jovanovic, for a second time, after he could only lead them to 10th in the Arabian Gulf League, despite boasting a squad which contains ex-France centre midfielder Yohan Cabaye and former Spain No9 Alvaro Negredo.

    The new man won the 2013 King Cup of Champions at Jeddah giants Al Ittihad, aged just 33, and then failed to gain promotion with Ettifaq in 2014/15. He departed Saudi Arabia for Chile’s Antofagasta in September 2015, before winning titles with Bolivia’s Bolivar from 2016-17 and surprisingly quitting Chile’s Universidad Catolica last week in the wake of their Primera Division-title success.

    “Al Nasr announced the signing of the Spaniard Benat San Jose to take over as coach of the football team for a season and a half,” a statement read.

    UAE-based representatives Francisco Igarza and Mohamed Saleh helped to negotiate the deal.

    Further to Negredo and Cabaye, San Jose also inherits an underperforming squad full of UAE internationals. A quartet were called up on Saturday for the final training camp before the Asian Cup.

    This call should cause caretaker boss Caio Zanardi to move back into his usual role as sporting director. The Brazilian’s third-and-final game in charge saw a 3-1 defeat to Al Jazira on Friday which left the Blue Wave down in ninth.

    No date has been set yet for the AGL’s resumption after January’s continental tournament.

    Nasr have churned through coaches since they originally sacked Jovanovic in October 2016. Dan Petrescu, Cesare Prandelli and the aforementioned Serbian have all been and gone, since then.

    San Jose is likely to make his debut in the dugout for Friday’s Arabian Gulf Cup-clash with Fujairah. Nasr have already secured their berth in the knockouts from Group B with a perfect five wins from five matches.

    San Jose began his coaching career at Real Sociedad’s academy a decade ago. He would first join Ittihad’s Under-21s in 2012, before promotion to the first team came a year later.

    His Cup joy with them saw a new record set for Saudi Arabia’s youngest-ever trophy winner.

    After his misstep at Ettifaq, a move to South America beckoned. He would first help save Chile’s Antofagasta from relegation, before claiming the 2017 Apertura and Clausura with Bolivar.

    From there, silverware continued to roll in at Chile’s Universidad. A tilt at the 2019 Copa Libertadores was then expected, prior to his shock choice to depart.

    At both Bolivar and Universidad, he won coach of the year.

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